Double-layer flexible pressure sensor and preparation method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of flexible electronic sensors, in particular to a double-layer flexible pressure sensor and a preparation method thereof.
Background
Flexible electronics is a new electronic technology for manufacturing organic/inorganic material electronic devices on flexible/ductile plastics or thin metal substrates, and has wide application prospects in the fields of information, energy, medical treatment, national defense and the like due to unique flexibility, ductility, efficient and low-cost manufacturing processes.
The flexible pressure sensor is a core device in flexible electronics, and when the external force acting on the flexible pressure sensor changes, an electric signal in a circuit of the flexible pressure sensor changes along with the change of the external force, so that the pressure signal is measured in real time. Based on different electric signals, the flexible pressure sensor can be classified into a piezoresistive type, a piezoelectric type and a capacitance type flexible pressure sensor, wherein the piezoresistive type pressure sensor is the most widely applied sensor at present due to the characteristics of simplicity, easy signal reading and the like.
The sensitive unit structure is the key for determining the performance of the piezoresistive flexible pressure sensor, the sensitivity of the sensor can be effectively improved by adopting the micro-nano structure design, but the linear range of the sensor can be reduced, so that the application range of the sensor is influenced.
The realization of high sensitivity and wide linear range is always the key point of the research of the flexible pressure sensor, the wide linear range and high sensitivity of the flexible pressure sensor can be realized simultaneously by adopting a multi-stage nested structure, but the micro-nano nested structure is usually realized by adopting a microelectronic process, the processing process is difficult, and the problems of complex process, high cost, poor repeatability and the like exist.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above problems, a dual-layer flexible pressure sensor and a manufacturing method thereof are provided, and the dual-layer flexible pressure sensor is simple in process, suitable for mass production, and high in sensitivity and wide in measuring range.
The specific technical scheme is as follows:
a first aspect of the present invention provides a dual-layer flexible pressure sensor having the features comprising:
a lower flexible substrate;
the upper flexible substrate is arranged opposite to the lower flexible substrate;
a lower interdigitated electrode layer attached to an inner side of the lower flexible substrate;
an upper interdigitated electrode layer attached to the inner side of the upper flexible substrate;
the sensitive structure layer is provided with a first micro-nano structure on the upper surface, a second micro-nano structure on the lower surface and arranged between the lower interdigital electrode layer and the upper interdigital electrode layer;
and the ratio of the height of the first micro-nano structure to the height of the second micro-nano structure is not less than 5.
The double-layer flexible pressure sensor is characterized in that the sensitive structure layer is composed of a flexible substrate, an upper conducting layer and a lower conducting layer, the upper conducting layer is arranged on the upper surface of the flexible substrate, and the lower conducting layer is arranged on the lower surface of the flexible substrate.
The above-mentioned two-layer flexible pressure sensor has a feature that the flexible substrate is made of polydimethylsiloxane, thermoplastic elastomer, or silicone rubber.
The double-layer flexible pressure sensor is characterized in that the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are made of carbon black, graphene, carbon nanotubes, nano silver particles and silver nanowires.
The double-layer flexible pressure sensor is further characterized in that the lower flexible substrate and the upper flexible substrate are made of polyethylene terephthalate, polydimethylsiloxane or polyimide.
The double-layer flexible pressure sensor is characterized in that the lower interdigital electrode layer and the upper interdigital electrode layer are made of conductive metal materials or non-metallic conductive materials.
The second aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing the dual-layer flexible pressure sensor, which comprises the following steps:
1) taking down the flexible substrate, and preparing a lower interdigital electrode layer on the inner side of the lower flexible substrate by adopting a printing process;
2) taking a flexible substrate, and respectively processing a first micro-nano structure and a second micro-nano structure on the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible substrate by adopting a template imprinting process or a laser direct writing process;
3) uniformly coating an upper conductive layer and a lower conductive layer on the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible substrate by adopting a spraying method or a soaking method to form a sensitive structure layer;
4) taking an upper flexible substrate, and preparing a lower interdigital electrode layer on the inner side of the upper flexible substrate by adopting a printing process;
5) and (3) sequentially overlapping and packaging the lower flexible substrate with the lower interdigital electrode layer, the sensitive structure layer and the upper flexible substrate with the upper interdigital electrode layer from bottom to top to obtain the double-layer flexible pressure sensor.
The beneficial effect of above-mentioned scheme is:
1) according to the invention, the upper surface and the lower surface of the sensitive structure layer are respectively provided with the first micro-nano structure with small height and the second micro-nano structure with large height, so that when external force is small, the first micro-nano structure with small height acts, and thus, an electric signal is changed, and the high sensitivity of the flexible sensor is realized; when the external force is increased to a certain degree, the second micro-nano structure with larger height plays a main role, so that the electric signal is changed, and the wide range of the flexible sensor is realized;
2) according to the invention, the micro-nano structures with different heights are respectively processed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the sensitive structure layer so as to avoid the problems of difficult processing and poor repeatability of the existing nested structure, the micro-nano structure can be processed in a large scale by adopting a template imprinting process or a laser direct writing process, the flexible pressure sensor electrode layer is prepared by combining a silk screen printing process, the overall preparation process is simple, and the flexible pressure sensor electrode layer is suitable for mass production.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a bi-layer piezoresistive flexible pressure sensor provided in the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a process for manufacturing a dual-layer piezoresistive flexible pressure sensor provided in the present invention;
fig. 3 is a top view (a) and a bottom view (b) of a sensitive structure layer provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention;
in the drawings: 1. a lower flexible substrate; 2. a lower interdigital electrode layer; 3. a sensitive structural layer; 301. a lower conductive layer; 302. a flexible substrate; 303. an upper conductive layer; 4. an upper interdigital electrode layer; 5. an upper flexible substrate.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.
The invention is further described with reference to the following drawings and specific examples, which are not intended to be limiting.
As shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the preparation of the dual-layer flexible pressure sensor provided in the present invention includes the following steps:
1) taking down the flexible substrate 1, and preparing a lower interdigital electrode layer 2 on the inner side of the lower flexible substrate 1 by adopting a printing process;
2) taking a flexible substrate 302, and respectively processing a first micro-nano structure and a second micro-nano structure with obviously different heights on the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible substrate 302 by adopting a template imprinting process or a laser direct writing process;
3) uniformly coating an upper conductive layer 303 and a lower conductive layer 301 on the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible substrate 302 by adopting a spraying method or a soaking method, so as to finish the preparation of the sensitive structure layer 3;
4) taking an upper flexible substrate 5, and preparing a lower interdigital electrode layer 4 on the inner side of the upper flexible substrate 5 by adopting a printing process;
5) sequentially superposing and packaging a lower flexible substrate 1 with a lower interdigital electrode layer 2, a sensitive structure layer 3 and an upper flexible substrate 5 with an upper interdigital electrode layer 4 from bottom to top to obtain the double-layer flexible pressure sensor;
the scale of the first micro-nano structure is obviously different from that of the second micro-nano structure;
wherein, the lower flexible substrate and the upper flexible substrate are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or Polyimide (PI); the lower interdigital electrode layer and the upper interdigital electrode layer are made of conductive metal materials (such as copper, aluminum, silver, gold and the like) or conductive non-metal materials (such as indium tin oxide); the sensitive structure layer is made of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or silica gel; the upper conducting layer and the lower conducting layer are made of carbon black, graphene, carbon nanotubes, nano silver particles and silver nanowires.
The technical solution of the present invention is further illustrated by the following specific examples.
Example 1
A double-layer flexible pressure sensor is prepared by the following steps:
1) printing carbon nanotube conductive ink on a PI substrate with the thickness of 10mm multiplied by 0.1mm by adopting a silk-screen printing process to form a lower interdigital electrode layer with the thickness of 12 mu m and the line width and the line distance of 100 mu m;
2) firstly, the energy density is 0.5J/cm2A femtosecond laser (with the wavelength of 1064nm) with the pulse width of 280fs, the linear scanning speed of 20mm/s and the overlapping rate of 80% scribes a groove (with the groove width of 30 microns, the interval of 200 microns and the groove depth of 100 microns) on the upper surface of PDMS to form a first micro-nano structure; subsequently, the energy density was adjusted to 0.2J/cm2The pulse width is 280fs, the linear scanning speed is 50mm/s, the overlapping rate is 80%, and then laser grooving (the groove width is 30 micrometers, the interval is 40 micrometers, and the groove depth is 20 micrometers) is carried out on the other surface of the PDMS to form a second micro-nano structure;
3) spraying nano silver particles on the upper and lower surfaces of the PDMS processed in the step 2) by adopting a spraying method to form an upper conductive layer and a lower conductive layer;
4. printing carbon nanotube conductive ink on a PET substrate with the thickness of 10mm multiplied by 0.1mm by adopting a screen printing process to form an upper interdigital electrode layer with the thickness of 12 mu m and the line width and the line distance of 100 mu m;
5) and sequentially superposing the PI substrate with the lower interdigital electrode layer, the PDMS substrate with the nano silver conductive film and the micro-nano structure and the PET substrate with the upper interdigital electrode layer from bottom to top, and packaging by using epoxy resin glue to form the assembly of the double-layer flexible pressure sensor.
Example 2
A double-layer flexible pressure sensor is prepared by the following steps:
1) printing conductive silver paste on a PDMS substrate with the thickness of 10mm multiplied by 0.1mm by adopting a screen printing process to form a lower interdigital electrode layer with the thickness of 12 mu m and the line width and the line distance of 100 mu m;
2) taking a copper plate with microgrooves with the width of 30 microns, the depth of 100 microns and the distance of 200 microns on the surface as an upper template, taking a copper plate with microgrooves with the width of 30 microns, the depth of 20 microns and the distance of 40 microns on the surface as a lower template, controlling the distance of the templates to be about 1mm, then heating the TPE to a molten state, pouring the liquid TPE between the templates, cooling to remove the liquid TPE, and stripping the copper template to obtain TPE films with different-scale microgroove structures on the upper and lower surfaces;
3) preparing a graphene solution with the concentration of 0.005g/mL, soaking the TPE film processed in the step 2) in the graphene solution for 6 hours to enable the graphene to cover the surface of the TPE film, taking out the TPE film, drying to enable the graphene to be tightly attached to the surface of the TPE film, and forming an upper conductive layer and a lower conductive layer;
4. printing conductive silver paste on a PDMS substrate with the thickness of 10mm multiplied by 0.1mm by adopting a screen printing process to form an upper interdigital electrode layer with the thickness of 12 mu m and the line width and the line distance of 100 mu m;
5) and sequentially superposing a PDMS substrate with a lower interdigital electrode layer, a TPE film with a graphene nano conductive film and a micro-nano structure and a PDMS substrate with an upper interdigital electrode layer together from bottom to top, and packaging with silica gel to form the assembly of the double-layer flexible pressure sensor.
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.